50 First Dates

So last night while working on wedding planning we watched “50 First Dates”. For those who haven’t seen the movie, Adam Sandler chases after Drew Barrymore. She was in a car accident that causes her memory to reset each night to the day of her accident. She remembers everything before that day, but wakes up every day only remembering what she knew up to that day. Adam Sandler falls in love with her and has to figure out how to pursue her, despite her forgetting who he is every night.

After the movie I was thinking about it. It would certainly be a challenging relationship. However, I think that relationship would also be blessed with some things that all of us would be blessed if we could do it.

What would it look like if every day I pursued my wife like I’m trying to win her love all over again? That each day I would do everything I could to win her heart, just like she woke up not remembering that I loved her and she loved me. It can be so easy to take the person you love for granted and just fall into a routine like you have a roommate. I remember hearing the story of an autistic child who told his mom that he loved her one day, and then didn’t say it again for years. Then one day she broke down and asked why he never told her he loved her. His reply was “I already told you that once, so you already knew.” I think many times we can approach love like that, we just assume that the other person knows and we go on with coexisting. But how would our relationships (not only with spouses, but with friends and other family) be transformed if each day we pursued that person in away that they would fall in love with us all over again?

The other thing that I really think we could learn from is forgetting the day before. Now it would be sad to forget all the good things, those certainly are worth holding onto. Drew Barrymore’s character kept a journal of all the good things she wanted to remember, because she knew she would forget. But what would it look like if every night we forgot the bad things? They were gone like they didn’t happen. No memory, a fresh start every day. God tells us “His mercies are new each day” and that love keeps no record of wrongs. How would our relationships be transformed if we held onto the good things in a way we would never forget, but quickly forgot the bad things? That’s called Grace folks.

I think those two things would absolutely transform our relationships with our spouses, as well as our friends and family. But that’s also how God pursues us. Each day God pursues us, desiring us to fall in love with Him all over again. Every day He wants us to choose Him and love Him as He loves us. Too often we aren’t paying attention. Each day God wipes His slate clean, that those who are covered by the blood of Jesus are made new. He has promised us that He will remember our sins no more. And the really cool thing about it, this doesn’t happen as a big accident. God chooses this each day. He has promised us this and each day He makes the conscious choice to pursue us madly and to forgive us of all we have done wrong.

I pray that I can choose to do that with my wife, my family, and my friends. I pray that I can pay attention to God pursuing me like that and respond by loving Him and embracing this beautiful gift He offers me.